His Excellency Eng. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, U.A.E. Minister of Energy and Industry, stressed the “unprecedented” magnitude and duration of recent OPEC+ cuts to oil production. This came during a videoconference hosted by the Atlantic Council and U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council on 15 June 2020, in which His Excellency discussed the changing global energy outlook and the U.A.E.’s response to the unprecedented market volatility in the wake of COVID-19.

During a timely discussion with Fred Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council, and Danny Sebright, President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, His Excellency highlighted the success to date of implementing the OPEC+ production cuts, provided an update on U.A.E. plans to increase its oil production capacity to 5 million bpd, and previewed what oil market recovery may look like moving forward.

His Excellency touched upon the U.A.E.’s In-Country Value (ICV) program, stating that ICV is a measure of “how a particular partnership is working,” and that the U.A.E. seeks to expand the ICV program nationwide.

H.E. Al Mazrouei also addressed the U.A.E.’s ongoing adoption of clean and alternative forms of energy, from massive solar farms to the Barakah Nuclear Plant, which will produce 25% of the U.A.E.’s energy when all four reactors are online and connected to the power grid.

In addition, His Excellency discussed the U.A.E.’s economic diversification efforts, as well as opportunities for growth in major U.A.E. industries and for enhanced partnership with U.S. companies. In this regard, he lauded Honeywell for its “out of the box” thinking in launching a partnership with Strata to produce 3D printed N95 face masks.

Please find a recording of the videoconference and additional recap here.

The video call was attended by over 300 senior executives from leading American and Emirati companies as well as by U.S. and U.A.E. government officials. It was also live-streamed on the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and Atlantic Council’s Twitter accounts.

This videoconference comes as part of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s ongoing series, “Looking Ahead: Conversations with U.S. and U.A.E. Business and Government Leaders.” For more information about this series and an exciting slate of upcoming events, please contact the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s head of communications Mary Zuccarello at mzuccarello@usuaebusiness.org.